said, heading for the stairs. “But we need Chrome to secure the wards.”
The alcohol still buzzed through my system, but thankfully, none of us had drank to the point of no return. With a fuzzy yet clear enough mind, River, Blaize, and I followed Onyx up the stairs to seek Orion.
Once we hit the landing, I felt it. The presence Blaize had mentioned. It was distant—too distant to detect it specifically—yet I could sense the familiar Kinetic aura.
“What is it?” River asked when I stopped abruptly. I scanned the area as if the intruder would pop out at any moment despite knowing they were too far away.
I stretched my awareness to locate and detect the source. It was like a word on the tip of my tongue. I knew it, but their identity wouldn’t come to my mortal brain.
Shoving my fingers through my hair, I growled, “I know who it is, but I…” I trailed off, still trying to place them. “They’re just too far away.” I ran my palm over my face. “Fuck.”
River’s violet eyes zeroed in on me before casting her keen stare out into the darkness beyond the wall windows on the top floor.
“I’m going to find them. You go find Orion,” I said and turned to head back down the steps.
River latched a tight grip on my wrist, snatching me to a halt. “No. You can’t go alone.”
“I’m fine. I can handle Kinetics,” I said because I could. I may not be Chrome Freyr, but they feared me for a reason.
Blaize shifted his weight back and forth, casting his flaming irises between his sister and me.
I shook my head. “Just go. Let me find them before they get too far.” I spun around, taking off down the stairs without looking back.
The night grew significantly quieter, as if nature knew there was an unwelcome guest in its midst.
The chill in the breeze bit my cheeks. I pulled my hood over my head and held my arms steady by my sides, ready to attack. The leaves crunched beneath my boots despite my best efforts to silence them. Closing my eyes, I scanned the area with my magic.
The energy waves of the intruding Kinetic retreated into the woods. I still couldn’t detect them, but the familiar essence clawed at my mind. Taunting me.
“You should be inside.” A deep, raw voice broke through the evening’s eerie calm.
I spun, summoning an electric ball ready in my palms. I relaxed upon seeing the feline-shaped eyes illuminated by the glow of my magic. “Holy shit. Don’t sneak up on me like that.”
“You really need to be more aware of your surroundings, little savage,” Chrome said. His tone was flat, deep, and unnervingly quiet. I could barely make out his words.
I lowered my hands and relaxed my stance. “Where’ve you been? There was a Kinetic here.”
“I know. I sensed them.” Chills trickled down my spine at the deadness in his tone, whereas his eyes were wild—manic.
“So,” I asked, with widened eyes. “We gotta do something. We can’t just—”
“I already handled it.” Chrome’s breaths were harsh as he cut me off. “They’re gone.”
“Gone?” I asked, skeptical.
“Yeah. They won’t be coming back.”
I tilted my head as I studied him in the faint light between us. Both of us exposed our full hybrid forms, mirror images of one another. But all I could see was his shaking shoulders. His teeth chattered while glistening beads of sweat trailed down his temples.
“What’s going on with you, Chrome?” I asked. The ominous feeling ratcheted up at the sight of him, reminding me of the night I discovered him spiraling in the abandoned house.
Still shaking, his frenzied gaze pleaded to me. “I need your help.”
I frowned. The longer I remained there, the more my gut twisted. “What can I do?”
“I…I…just…” He chattered through gritted teeth. “Just…be…be near me. It helps.”
I nodded. “Okay,” I whispered and sat on the prickly grass, patting the spot next to me.
He hesitated for a moment, jerking his head around in paranoia. He took a few shaky steps and settled beside me, shoulder brushing against shoulder.
He held out his hand. “Touch,” he said through gritted teeth. “I need it.”
I bit my lower lip, my frown deepening. None of this made sense, but if he thought it would help him, I’d oblige. To see someone of his strength and caliber crumbling before me cleaved my soul.
So, I placed my golden palm, alight with my currents, in his. His silver currents complimented mine, but I shut down the thought before I could let it gain any traction. “Talk to me. About anything,” I said, noting his clammy hand.
Chrome squeezed my fingers like it was a lifeline, sending a tingle up my arm that spread to my chest at the feel of his calloused skin on mine. “I…I’ll try.” That tone, so hopeless, twisted my heart.
“I’ll go first,” I said, wracking my brain for something remotely interesting. But then it hit me. I looked sideways at his profile, noticing the gauntness. “I’m sorry for what I said yesterday. I didn’t mean it.”
His chin dropped to his chest—his head seemed too heavy to hold upright any longer. He chuckled with no sign of amusement. “No, you were right. If…if only you…you knew…you’d see how disgusting I truly am.”
I shook my head. “No,” I said, my voice growing sharp. “Don’t. Don’t do that to yourself. You’re struggling with…something, but look at what you’ve done. At what you’re doing. You’re far from that.” I focused on the lodge ahead of us, illuminated by the moonlight on the hilltop. “I said that because I’ve never had any control over my life. Every action I’ve ever made has been monitored by my father or someone he appointed. Hearing that…struck a nerve. And I didn’t handle it well.”
Chrome shook his head. “No,” he said, his voice growing even more hoarse. “You don’t understand,” he said. “I wish I could tell you, but…it could…ruin everything.” A hard shiver wracked his body, and he groaned a pain-filled noise, fraying a thread on my heart.
“Then, tell me. You said I could help, right?” He didn’t respond. His head hung low, resigned to whatever fate he’d convinced himself awaited him. “Look, I trusted you enough to not lock me up, torture, and kill me when you brought me here. Everything inside me screamed I was walking into a trap, that I was a fucking idiot for entertaining the thought you weren’t the heartless killer I believed you were.” I released his hand and cupped his jaw, stubble poking the skin on my palms, and forced him to meet my eyes.
Empty shells hollowed out those fierce eyes I knew. Broken. “I trusted you enough when I shouldn’t have. You can trust me, Chrome.” I held his gaze, willing him to start somewhere, anywhere.
Several beats of silence passed. He gave nothing away—not even a blink. I was about to accept defeat and withdraw my palms from his face. He wrapped his long fingers around the tops of my hands to stop me, shifting them to rest between us without letting go.
Chrome faced forward again, gazing at the back side of the lodge. He took a shuddering breath to steady himself for what he was about to confess. I was scared to breathe—afraid any sound or movement would make him change his mind.
“You know how I was conceived. Amethyst…she’s twisted on a level few are aware of. Not even you,” he said and shook his head, his metallic hair catching in the moon’s rays like a halo. “She and your father knew how powerful I’d become. They had bred me, after all. But they needed to control me. I needed to be broken…from a young age.”
My gut sank, preparing for the horrific tale I knew was coming.
“Amethyst and Grim got together right after I was born. They formed a sick type of bond that centered on depravity. By the time I turned one, they were married. Then, Peri was born the next year. Amethyst never loved me. Hell, she never even liked me. She hated me for who my biological father was. But Peri, she was theirs.” Chrome took a deep breath before he continued, squeezing my hand again. “I loved Peri, too. She was my baby sister, and I felt this intense need to protect her. She was just…the embodiment of light. A joy. They doted on her and luckily spared her from their twisted shit. But me? No, I was the abomination, but one they’d use to their advantage.
“They beat me—a lot. But after a while, I’d grown desensitized. I’d manifested my Elemental powers way before the natural age. And then, a few days later, my Kinetic magic awakened with you on the playground. Orion and I believe it’s because the abuse fueled it, but also, there was something about you and me that sparked it into manifestation,” he explained. He’d regained color to his pallor since holding my hand. Steadiness returned to his voice, and the shivering was receding. But his hand never wavered from mine. Now, he was only a touch of gold and madness, instead of a full blown assault.
“I was ten years old. And that day, they realized my strength. They knew. They knew I could easily overpower them and feared I’d one day retaliate for all their abuse. But instead of changing course, they doubled down. Grim…he,” he whispered, looking too ashamed to say it out loud.
I felt sick. The alcohol burned my stomach, threatening to retch at where this was headed. But I stayed still, willing myself not to react, to allow him this safety.
“He violated me. Owned me.” His voice broke.
My free hand covered my mouth, tears blurring my vision as I choked down emotion. “Chrome…”
Chrome shook his head, forcing himself to push forward. “They needed me to know they were my masters, no matter how powerful I was. They needed me broken—spiritually and mentally. So, I went on to become the person every Kinetic reveres. But the people only knew the persona they’d crafted as the face of our kind. It was a role. And I played it well while becoming what they wanted. I had no will to fight them, even when I became their personal lab rat.
“They would take me down to the interrogation room and push me to the brink of death. They’d torture me, starve me from replenishing my reserves from either form. All so they’d see what I was capable of and what they were dealing with. But they fucked up.” He paused and bit the inside of his cheek.
This horror story was about to worsen.
“The worst happened when I was sixteen. Weeks went by, and I hadn’t replenished either form. My Elemental form was going insane. It was such a hell that I couldn’t think straight. I needed to feed from an aura. It didn’t matter whose it was or how much I’d take. I didn’t care whether I depleted them, even knowing the risk. Add to that, I was starved from my Kinetic energy, too. It was the worst form of torture anyone could imagine.
“So, when they brought someone in the room, I was mindless. Their orders, however, were for me to restrain myself. They wanted me to have self-control while in a depraved state. And they assumed since they brought the one person I cared about the most, the one person I’d do anything to protect, I’d be able to achieve it.”
Tears slid down his cheeks, the wetness darkening the gold skin on his profile. “Peri didn’t stand a chance. I fed from her aura…and…and I couldn’t stop. Gray, I couldn’t fucking stop.” He shoved his free hand into his hair as he wept, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs.
My heart splintered, slicing my soul. Hot tears streamed down my cheeks alongside him. This was beyond sadistic. How was he even still going?
“I depleted her,” he whispered. “I killed my baby sister, the only person who had ever shown me any love. My best friend.”
I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, pulling him into me. Words wouldn’t suffice for something like this. Hell, I wasn’t good with words, to begin with. So, I remained silent, holding him in his pain.
I felt it again, the humming tug on my heart chakra. Then, a soul-splintering ache erupted in my chest as if it were my own. I knew it was his emotions again, like I’d felt his anger the day before. I took it in silence and grieved with him. The least I could do was give him the chance to finally not bear this loss alone.
“It wasn’t your fault, Chrome,” I said through choked sobs.
Chrome buried his face in the crook of my shoulder. “I killed her. I should’ve stopped.”
His emotions were like a torrential storm finally being set free into the night. Even the soothing comfort of air within me couldn’t appease the pain. I wanted to scream at the pale beacon in the sky to do something. To bring her back. None of this was fair. How did no one know about this?
“No one could’ve withstood that temptation,” I said. My tears soaked through the black fabric of his hoodie.
“I was supposed to, and I failed. So, I deserve to suffer for it.”
I sucked in a breath and pulled away, forcing him to meet my eyes again. I’d never seen such a broken look on a man before. Bracing his face in my hands, I said, “No. No, you don’t. They do. And they will. We will take their heads, but first, they will pay for what they’ve done.”
The liquid metal in his irises twitched again, wanting to stir at my words. Chrome’s jaw tightened. His beauty was drenched in his tears. Slowly, without breaking eye contact, he regained control of himself with a harsh sniffle. I could sense the strength rebuilding—see it hardening in the steel of his eyes.
“Yes, we will, my little savage,” he said, his voice but a mere rumble in his chest. His warm breath washed over my own tears. Lifting a hand, he slowly—oh so slowly—combed his fingers through my marbled locks. “They have so much to answer for.”
His gravelly voice, hoarse from the turbulent emotions, brought a heat to my chest that had nothing to do with anger. It spread, warming me against the crisp night air. My lungs constricted at the intensity of his gaze that pinned me in place. That gaze that said he saw it all, felt it all. The look that’s unnerved me since the moment I held my knife to his throat in the speakeasy.
I nodded, unable to form any coherent thoughts between the shift in his stare—now shining vibrant with life—and the large hand that cradled the back of my head with renewed strength.
“You look so fucking beautiful in your full form,” Chrome whispered. “You’re my rainbow. My beam of hope.”
My cheeks flushed hot. I sat there, too captivated by him to do anything but hold his gaze. Something kept tickling the back of my mind. Something that kept begging me to speak on it, but I couldn’t bring myself to focus. I was lost, drowning in whatever thrall he seemed to have me in.
“Thank you, Gray,” Chrome murmured.
For what?
But after a moment, I shook my head, forcing myself to regain my senses again. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing myself back to reality, to the present.
I cleared my throat. His hand remained fixed on the back of my head as if he was afraid to let go. “No, thank you for trusting me with such…” I trailed off. That niggling thought persisted.
The pieces clicked together. If he…
“Wait…” I froze. My eyes widened, heart racing. “If you depleted her, that means…” I whispered, scared to voice it aloud.
Chrome’s eyes fell away from mine. As did his hand, leaving an icy shiver in its wake.
“Yeah,” Chrome said, shame filling his tone once again. He squared his shoulders. “When I depleted Peri, it thrust me into devolution. I’m becoming Endarkened.”